Bad Day
by netherfield
Summary: L.L.: Dramatic Stand Alone piece. Complete.


Bad Day: Spoilage. Melodrama. Stand Alone Piece. L.L. Complete. PG13  
  
I do not own these characters.  
  
"Was a brown shirt issued to you along with that attitude?" asked Lorelai. Luke continued to glare at her pointedly. "Fine, fine!" she snapped, "Fascism wins again, Il Duce: I am turning the ringer off. See? I am not answering it. I am letting the caller leave a message for me, the callee. Happy?"  
  
"No." he responded.  
  
"Well, novel as that is for you, it is the best I can do right now." said Lorelai with a sigh.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" asked Luke as he poured her a cup of coffee.  
  
"Nothing. I have a life, Luke. I am trying to start a business. Hence, the need for this modern contraption we youngins' call a cell phone." said Lorelai as she took several grateful sips of the coffee.  
  
What-the-hell anyway, she'd seen the number; it was Jason calling. And after the morning she'd had, she just didn't want to deal with anyone, right now. Just coffee. After the coffee, she'd be fine.  
  
"It was pretty clear when you walked in that you're upset about something, Lorelai." he told her. She looked up at him. Why was he bugging her? 'Just leave it, Butch,' she thought.  
  
"And you're bothered by this because you want the trash can all to yourself, is that it?" she asked.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Trash can? Oscar-the-Grouch? Speed limit in here pretty low today?" she snapped.  
  
"Wow."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're not usually quite so... like this." said Luke. He didn't know whether to walk away and leave her to her mood or to... whatever it was a friend should do in this situation. He settled on the latter, and sat next to her at the small table. It was the quiet mid-morning and no one was in anyway.  
  
"Lorelai, what's going on?" He tried again. She could hear his sincerity, and at that a lump bubbled up in her throat. God, it wasn't his fault.  
  
"I'm sorry, Luke. I'm tired.," sighed Lorelai, "I was up all night working on the curtains for the Inn."  
  
"No, there's something else..." he said looking at her.  
  
"All right, yes there is. I had a thing at the Inn this morning." Lorelai looked up at him, her resolve broken, her eyes misting.  
  
"Lorelai, don't cry..." Luke was alarmed, "What happened?"  
  
"I'm sorry," Lorelai fought the tears, "I had to fire a guy."  
  
"Oh. I know that's not easy, but it's part of running a business..."  
  
"I know that, Luke, I used to manage an Inn. I've fired people before."  
  
"Well then, what is it? If the guy wasn't doing his job..." Luke was perplexed by how shaken Lorelai seemed, she was usually so independent.  
  
"He was. He was doing his job."  
  
"If he was doing his job, then why did you fire him?" Luke was confused.  
  
Lorelai looked down at her hands and then back up at Luke, "Because he pretty much wanted to 'do' me too."  
  
"What? ...Oh." Luke was blank for a moment, "You fired a guy because he's interested in you?"  
  
"No, that's not it." Lorelai looked away again and quickly swiped at her cheek–the tears were starting to head south now.  
  
"Lorelai, I don't get it."  
  
"I didn't say he was 'interested' in me... I said he wanted to 'do me'. What I also didn't say was that he pretty much tried to... this morning.." Lorelai put her forehead into her hands. She was embarrassed. She should have seen it all coming.  
  
"He what?" roared Luke, standing up. Lorelai looked up, grabbed his arm and pulled him back down into the chair next to her.  
  
"Calm down, Luke." "Are you all right?" he leaned in, his fury and concern at war with one another, a hand gripping her shoulder.  
  
"I'm fine. I mean I'm a little shaken, but fine. And embarrassed."  
  
"Oh, man, I'm gonna kill this guy," said Luke intensely.  
  
"I knew I shouldn't have said anything, The guy was just a clueless jerk and..." said Lorelai miserably.  
  
"Lorelai, what did he do? Because first I'm gonna call the police and then I'm gonna find him..."  
  
"No, Luke, you're not. I took care of it. It'll be fine." And then Luke really looked at her and saw just how upset she was. He gathered her hand into both of his across the corner of the table and looked her in the eye.  
  
"What happened, Lorelai?" Lorelai looked back at Luke, her hand felt warm in his; she felt a little better.  
  
She sighed. "I am just so embarrassed. How could I not see what this guy wanted?"  
  
"Lorelai, you are not a mind reader."  
  
"I know, but, Luke, he showed up at my house the other night..."  
  
"He what?"  
  
"He knocked on the backdoor and I'm just sitting on the couch wearing..." Lorelai looked down, "Well, not a lot." Luke shifted uncomfortably, trying not to picture what she must have been wearing and, not wearing, "And, anyway, I just yelled 'Come in' thinking it was Sookie or Babbette, or maybe even you if you were staying over in town, I don't know..."  
  
"Lorelai..."  
  
"I am so stupid, Luke. I just yell 'Come in!' and he does. I mean this guy who I really only know as a floor refinisher just comes right into the living room... I didn't even know he knew where I live."  
  
"Lorelai, I have warned you about locking the back door."  
  
"Luke, even if I had, how many times have you broken into my house?" Luke knew she was right.  
  
"Lorelai, did he do anything?"  
  
"No, it was just weird and I was surprised, and a girl feels a little disadvantaged when she's wearing Minnie Mouse pajama bottoms and a white tank top with no bra, and a guy she hardly knows walks into her house with a six pack and just sits down to 'hang out' and 'get to know me', plus he'd probably already had a least one six pack on his own before he got there... And, now I'm wondering why I attract drunk men to my home.." Lorelai furrowed her brow.  
  
Luke was too upset to bother with her last statement, "What did you do?"  
  
"Well, I told him I was really tired and that I don't drink beer...and then he left."  
  
"What happened this morning?"  
  
"This morning I went to the Inn early to check the progress on the floors. And, of course, lucky me, he was there already, but no one else was on site yet..."  
  
"Lorelai, did he hurt you?"  
  
"No, Luke, he just scared me. Really. He followed me into the little office and starts telling me how much he enjoyed 'seeing me' the other night. I told him that he shouldn't have come over, but he tells me how hot...well, how he felt about my looks..." Lorelai looked away, Luke bristled "Then he said... other stuff..., and then somehow I was backing up against the wall, trying to leave, and he was rubbing my arm...I kept telling him that this wasn't appropriate, that we should go back to work, but he wasn't listening. I just sort of couldn't believe it was happening, you know, it was like slow motion, and then..." Lorelai put her a hand over her mouth as the tears came a little more freely. Luke squeezed the hand he held.  
  
"Then what? Lorelai..." Luke's voice was quiet now.  
  
"Well, then I was really scared, 'cause you know, I'm alone out there with this guy, and my cell phone is in the car, and both his hands are going up and down my arms and up to my shoulders and towards my .."  
  
"Oh my God, Lorelai..."  
  
"It's all right, really. I just finally kinda' got a grip and pushed his hands down and told him that his job with me was over and that I wanted him to clear out and not return, and... and then I just got out of there as fast as I could." Lorelai took her hand away from Luke and reached for a napkin to wipe her eyes.  
  
"Are you sure he didn't hurt you?"  
  
"Yes. I-I will be fine. I just needed some coffee. And... and... to get a grip. And to find another floor refinisher." she added weakly.  
  
"I think we should call Coop and report this."  
  
"I don't want to bring the police in, Luke. There's nothing they can do. I feel so stupid for letting it happen."  
  
"Lorelai, this is not your fault. The guy is obviously an asshole."  
  
"I just should have done something when he walked into the house the other night. What? Did he think he could just come over and we'd party like teenagers or something?"  
  
"Who was he?" Luke was getting up and walking to the phone.  
  
"Luke..." warned Lorelai.  
  
"What's his name, Lorelai?"  
  
"Who are you calling?" she asked as she followed him behind the counter.  
  
"I'm calling Hank Cooper. This guy could come back, Lorelai. Now, what was his name?" Luke's face was set as he started to dial.  
  
"Luke, I don't know if this is..."  
  
The door jingled open and Lorelai turned to see her mother striding toward her. Oh, Jeez. What now?  
  
"Lorelai.." called Emily Gilmore to her daughter.  
  
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Lorelai walked around to meet her mother on the other side of the counter. She could see that Emily was in Thinly- Controlled-Anger mode. This was not good.  
  
"I came to find you. You weren't at your house so naturally I assumed you were here."  
  
"Well, that was an excellent deduction, Miss Marple. What can I do for you?"  
  
"There are piles of fabric all over your living room." sniffed Emily.  
  
"Yes, Inspector, I am making curtains for the Inn."  
  
"You're making the curtains yourself?" Emily lifted her brows.  
  
"Mom, what did you need?'  
  
"Can we go some place more private?" "So I can use the candlestick in the library on Colonel Mustard?"  
  
"Lorelai, I need to speak to you on a personal matter and this is a public place."  
  
"Look around, Agatha, we are the only ones here," said Lorelai. She didn't know where this was going but had a feeling she'd better stay on familiar turf.  
  
"I see Luke right over there on the phone. He could hear everything I'm going to say and I'm not sure you're going to like that, Lorelai." Emily stated coldly.  
  
Luke hung up after leaving a message for Coop and turned to see Lorelai and her mother facing each other in the middle of the diner. They did not look happy.  
  
"Luke is my dearest friend in the world, Mom. Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of him," Lorelai crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
Emily turned her head to look at Luke. He crossed his arms and met her gaze.  
  
"Very well, Lorelai, if that is the way you want it..." Lorelai nodded curtly. "I would just like to know what the hell you were thinking running around with Jason Stiles?"  
  
"I beg your pardon?" asked Lorelai in an even tone.  
  
"What did you think, Lorelai? That this was going to be some kind of great romance? Some Romeo and Juliet thing?"  
  
"Mother, who I date is none of your business."  
  
"None of my business, is it? Well, actually, it is. Because it literally is your father's business you are monkeying with here, Madam, and that makes it my business!" shouted Emily.  
  
"Mom, my dating Jason has nothing to do with you or Dad."  
  
"Oh, really, Lorelai? Yes, you just keep telling yourself that and maybe one day you'll believe it too. If you cared so little about what we think, why weren't you just open and above board about the whole thing?"  
  
"Because I knew you would be like this." Lorelai sighed, "Look, we've just been going out for a couple of months. It was just easier for now not to complicate everything by telling you and Dad."  
  
"Yes, and by all means, make things easier for yourself, Lorelai. Don't worry about what the rest of us might think or feel."  
  
"Mom, I didn't want to upset you. I knew you didn't like him."  
  
"Are you ever going to grow past sixteen, Lorelai? Or are you just going to sneak around behind our backs for the rest of our lives?"  
  
"Mom, I'm not going to discuss this with you anymore."  
  
"Are you sleeping with him?"  
  
"Excuse me?!"  
  
"Don't answer. I'm sure you are. I hope you are being sensible, Lorelai, because the last thing you need is another surprise pregnancy in your life!"  
  
"That's it! I've had enough. I'm leaving."  
  
"Oh, no you don't! I am not finished!"  
  
"Yes, you are."  
  
Lorelai saw that she couldn't get past her mother and out the front of the diner so, instead, about-faced and went through the kitchen, past a surprised Ceasar, and out through the back and into the alley.  
  
"I hope you don't expect Jason to marry you, Lorelai," continued Emily as she followed her through the kitchen. "Because, he is a bright and wealthy fellow. He can have any woman he wants. He could have a younger woman, a woman without a grown daughter, a woman with a career..."  
  
They were outside in the alley now, Lorelai turned to face her mother again. Emily was furious, Lorelai silent.  
  
"Mom, has any actual damage been done to Dad's business?" Lorelai finally asked evenly.  
  
"Not yet, but..."  
  
"Then, that's it, Mom. It's over. You and I are finished with this. Dad's business is fine. You are angry because you didn't know and that's all. I get it. I didn't tell you because I didn't want a scene like this--which is something you will just never get. We were dating. There is nothing wrong with that." Lorelai started to walk away.  
  
"Lorelai, don't walk away from me!" Emily followed a few paces behind, "He will neglect you for his business! He'll send you flowers and jewelry and apologize all over the place, but his work will always come first. Is that what you want? Because I can tell you right now, that is no way to be with the man you love... to always be second, year after year..." there were tears in Emily's angry eyes now. Lorelai turned to look at her mother.  
  
"Mom, what is it you are really talking about here? Dad loves you, you know he does. He adores you. Women search their lifetimes trying to find someone to adore them like that. His work–Well, he does it all for you."  
  
Emily looked away and then sharply back at Lorelai.  
  
"I know that, Lorelai! This is not about me and your father." she snapped.  
  
"O-o.k., Mom..."  
  
"You are a selfish, girl, Lorelai! It's time you grew up and realized that," Lorelai felt a burn in her chest, like she couldn't get the breath she needed. "You always were selfish. You kept Rory from us and now, just because you missed all the high school and college fun other teenagers had–something that was your own fault, by the way– You run around like some sixty-year-old man with a bad comb-over, red sports car and a Peter Pan syndrome the size of Texas—Coffee, hamburgers, and dating shallow men-- Is that who you want to be Lorelai Victoria Gilmore? Because it's who you are!" Emily was out of breath now too.  
  
She and Lorelai stared at each other.  
  
"I think that's enough, Mrs. Gilmore."  
  
Emily turned slowly and saw that Luke had followed them into the alley and had heard everything. He looked at her. There was no judgment in his eyes, just a sort of comprehension --A knowledge gained about her. About Emily Gilmore. And suddenly Emily was very uncomfortable.  
  
She took a breath, "Yes, Luke, I think, you're right. I think that's quite enough." she turned back to speak again to "Lorelai,..." but she was gone. Emily felt the tears begin now: What had just happened? She looked around. Had she just been yelling at her daughter in a common alley way? A stunned Emily turned and looked back at Luke. "I think I better go home."  
  
Luke nodded, "I think that's a good idea."  
  
And so Emily walked back through the diner and out to her car.  
  
Luke followed her in and watched her leave. He then turned automatically to fill a to-go cup of coffee. "Ceasar! I'm going out. Lane's coming in for the lunch rush." he called as he grabbed his coat, picked up Lorelai's, and left back out through the alley.  
  
He could see her in the distance walking toward the lake. He followed. It was cold and he could smell snow in the air. He wrapped his black muffler more closely around his neck. She'd stopped on the bridge.  
  
He joined her, balanced the coffee cup on the railing, and held out her coat.  
  
"Here. You never dress warm enough."  
  
Lorelai turned to look at him a moment.  
  
"I'm not going to cry," she told him.  
  
"Fine by me. I don't do well with that, anyway." he said still holding her coat out.  
  
"I just want you to know that I'm not going to cry," she stated again unblinkingly.  
  
"Lorelai," he sighed, "Put your coat on."  
  
She obliged him as he helped her into the parka.  
  
They stood in silence for a few minutes staring at the ice on the lake, the coffee cup on the rail between them.  
  
Finally he turned his head to look at her. "Lorelai..." he began.  
  
"No, Luke, don't say anything. Just don't, because it seems to me that the only person I've wronged here is you."  
  
"Me?" just when Luke thought she couldn't surprise him any more, she always did.  
  
"Yes, you." She turned to face him fully.  
  
"Why?" it was a simple question.  
  
"Because I am a hypocrite and I'd like to apologize to you for that."  
  
"You don't owe me..."  
  
"Yes, Luke, as I see it, I do: I have been dating Jason Stiles for a couple of months now."  
  
"Ok," Luke was getting a little uncomfortable.  
  
"And you are just about the best friend I have."  
  
"Thank you." he still didn't get it. "I've been yelling at you all winter about how friends tell each other things..."  
  
"Ah." the penny dropped.  
  
"And I didn't tell you that I was dating my father's business partner."  
  
"How old a guy is he?" Luke is slightly scandalized here.  
  
"He's my age," Lorelai had to smile at this a little.  
  
"Oh." a pause "Is it serious?"  
  
"No. I mean, I don't think so. I mean, no." Lorelai frowned as she puzzled over this.  
  
"So why didn't you tell me?" he asked turning back to look over the lake again.  
  
"I don't know," Lorelai turned to look at the water again as well. She thought a little bit longer and then added, "I think the whole thing with Nicole was really bothering me..."  
  
"Lorelai, I told you, our friendship is the same," he was getting a little irritated. How many times was she going to bring this up?  
  
"I know, Luke. It's none of my business."  
  
"That's right!" he told her in no uncertain terms.  
  
"All right, fine! I'm just trying to explain to you how I feel."  
  
Luke groaned audibly.  
  
"Or maybe you've had enough of the Lorelai show for one day?" she snapped–her eyes filling with tears.  
  
"What? No, that's not it!"  
  
"It's Ok, Luke, I'm going home." she turned to walk back across the park.  
  
"Lorelai!" Luke followed behind her, "Lorelai, stop! Just let me... let me.." he jogged in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders to stop her. Lorelai looked up into his eyes and tried to hold onto her anger, to hold onto anything other than what she was feeling.  
  
They gazed at each other awhile until finally, "Come here," said Luke, and pulled her into his arms.  
  
Lorelai stiffened for a moment but could no longer hold on to it all the way she wanted, and so melted against him.  
  
She let go and cried deeply into his shoulder. He held her close, feeling each sob shiver up before it erupted.  
  
"It's all right," he said into her hair, "It's all right." he rubbed her back with one hand and held her as tight as he could with his other arm, and just let her cry.  
  
It felt like a long time to both of them, but eventually her crying quelled and they both simply breathed together.  
  
Finally Lorelai broke the moment and looked up at him.  
  
"Hi,." she said, trying to smile.  
  
"Hi," he said back  
  
"I'm sorry. You did not need to deal with Lucia di Lammermoor today."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Crazy, crying soprano. My mother made me go to the Mayflower Junior Opera League every month."  
  
"Well, you have had sort of an operatic morning." he smiled down at her.  
  
"Yeah." she pulled away from him and wiped at her face. "I must be a mess."  
  
"You're beautiful." he said simply.  
  
"I am?" she is genuinely surprised at this from Luke.  
  
"Always." he nodded.  
  
They paused a long moment together, just looking at one another, each seeing something they hadn't been so sure of before.  
  
Lorelai began, "Luke..."--  
  
--"Lorelai! Lorelai!" she had to turn away from Luke to look–someone was calling her from across the park. Luke looked too. It was Jackson. He ran over to them.  
  
"Lorelai, you have got to come!" he said breathlessly when he was upon them. "Slow down, Jackson, what is it?" She said.  
  
"It's Sookie and Davey."  
  
"Oh, my God–are they all right?"  
  
"They are fine. Only, not-- Davey keeps crying and crying and the doctor says there's nothing wrong with him, and Sookie's just losing it. Lorelai, I don't know what to do."  
  
"Ok, ok. Calm down, Jackson, let's go over and see them."  
  
So Lorelai pushed back down what had been blooming within her, yet again (a realization that actually dawned on her for a change), and the three walked across the park toward Sookie and Jackson's home. Jackson talked non-stop of sleepless nights and the misery of being unable to comfort one's own helpless baby when he is crying so hard.  
  
"It'd break your heart, Lorelai," he said miserably.  
  
Lorelai nodded in understanding and offered a comforting word, but mostly just listened.  
  
When they reached the front door, Lorelai went right in. Luke lingered.  
  
"Maybe I should just go back to the diner."  
  
"No, Luke, come in please," said Jackson.  
  
Luke sighed. "I don't know..."  
  
"Come on in, Luke, and make yourself useful," called Lorelai over her shoulder as she took off her coat.  
  
And so they both entered 'The Crazy, Crying, Cozy House of Exhaustion' as Lorelai later termed it, where they both learned a great deal--and in only a few short hours.  
  
Luke learned the horrors of a colicky baby, and actually overcame his usual extreme aversion to such situations when he saw just how heart broken little Davey's parents were.  
  
"The doctors all say there is nothing wrong, I know," Lorelai soothed Sookie, "but in your heart, you only know that your baby is in some kind of emotional pain. It is heartbreaking. So you go ahead and hold him, Sookie, if that's what you want to do. You hold him and let him know that no matter how difficult things are, his mother will always be there. And when you are too tired, you go take a bath and a nap, and I'll hold him, or Jackson, or Luke even." (Luke blanched here but said nothing)  
  
"Really?" sniffed Sookie, "because Jackson's sister says to just let him cry it out, but it just feels to me like anyone who leaves a colicky baby to cry alone has got to have a heart of steel."  
  
"Sookie, if your mother's heart is telling you to comfort your baby, then it must be done. And if you are too tired then the people who love you and little Davey will help. Some babies just need more holding. It's Ok. Nobody was ever ruined by love in this world."  
  
And that sent Sookie into a flood of grateful tears, which woke Davey and set him off again too. Luke eased out of the room and into the kitchen. It looked like a hurricane had been through, so he rolled up his sleeves...  
  
Lorelai sent Jackson and Sookie into the back bedroom for a bath and bed and then walked into the kitchen bundling a miserable Davey up as she went.  
  
"Where are you going?" asked Luke as he mopped the floor.  
  
"Out into the back yard, "Lorelai replied calmly, "the fresh air and seeing the stars come out always helped calm Rory down."  
  
Luke looked out the window and saw that, indeed, evening was beginning to fall, early as it was. February was like that, he mused.  
  
"Isn't it too cold for a baby?" he asked  
  
"Luke, babies have lived in cold climates all over the world for thousands of years. Besides, Lands' End Polartec would keep him toasty enough to visit Santa Claus. Right, Davey? (Davey did not respond articulately here) Come on, Little Davey" she cooed over his wailing, "I am going to sing you every song I know with the word 'star' in it–except that weird one about Van Gogh." And out she went.  
  
Later, as Lorelai sat in the kitchen holding a finally sleeping Davey, she watched what seemed, by all intents and purposes, to be a miracle: Luke produced a huge pot of chicken vegetable soup and fresh corn bread out of thin air!  
  
"Lorelai," he smiled at her amazement, "contrary to your observation, Sookie's cupboards were not bare. She had here of variety of something we call 'ingredients'. This is food in it's most basic form. You just put it together. Not all food is delivered to your door completed and in a box."  
  
"Hmm... I love that I am a Life Long Learner," said Lorelai proudly.  
  
At that moment Davey chose to wake and cry again. Luke watched as Lorelai changed and cuddled him just Sookie appeared at the door looking a little more rested.  
  
"I think he needs what only his mother can provide," smiled Lorelai.  
  
Sookie reached for Davey tenderly and sat at the table to nurse him. He quieted immediately. Luke stepped into the living room, Lorelai following.  
  
"Come on, they've had some rest now. I'll come back and give her another break in the morning" Lorelai told him.  
  
Luke nodded. They quietly put their coats back on and walked out into the night, each taking a deep breath of the cold, bracing night air.  
  
"Was Rory like that when she was a baby?" Luke asked her as they walked back toward the center of town.  
  
Lorelai shrugged. "For a little while. Many babies get a brief period of colic, but some can have it for as long as a year."  
  
"Jeez, what causes it?"  
  
"Different things–allergies, indigestion, bad dreams... I don't know. Maybe they're just pissed that they got ejected from world's best place to live."  
  
As Luke reluctantly pondered that, Lorelai sighed and rubbed her temples.  
  
"Come on, we left your coffee in the park. Let's go get you a fresh cup."  
  
Lorelai smiled, "Well, your coffee can fix anything."  
  
And here she linked her arm through his and they walked in companionable silence back toward the diner.  
  
"Luke,' she finally asked along the way, "how did you learn to cook?"  
  
"My mother taught me some and then after she died, I had to figure it out or watch my family starve. Liz had no interest and Dad had all he could do to keep himself and the store going."  
  
Lorelai nodded.  
  
"How come you never learned?" he asked her.  
  
"I wasn't allowed in the kitchen when I was a little girl." she smiled ruefully. "How come?"  
  
"My mother had this French cook that she had pirated from Mrs. Brooks. She made amazing food but she was mean. I mean, she made Don Rickles look like Saint Francis. So, anyway, I had to stay out of the way, or risk irritating Solange–and there was no way my mother was going to lose her French trophy cook!"  
  
Luke briefly wondered what it must have been like to grow up in such a rich home. Must of been a pain in the ass, he decided.  
  
"And you never learned after you left home?"  
  
"Luke, I was only sixteen. It was all I could do to work and feed Rory. I was actually grateful for a hamburger diet. My mom never let me have any until I went to Janice Robinson's 50's -theme fourteenth birthday party at the club. So once I got away, it was like, 'Yay! Forbidden Fruit!'"  
  
Luke smiled and they continued, arm in arm, to the door of the diner.  
  
When they walked through the door, Luke stopped short, Lorelai bumping into him.  
  
"Hey!..." she began to scold him, and then saw Nicole, standing at the counter watching them.  
  
"Nicole..." Luke began.  
  
"Hi, Nicole," Lorelai smiled over brightly, disengaged her arm from Luke and walked to the counter to sit down..  
  
"Hello, Lorelai." said Nicole in a slightly professional manner. There was a quiet sort of appraising look in her eye as she glanced between Luke and Lorelai.  
  
"Hey, Nicole," Luke recovered. He crossed to her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and walked around behind the counter. "Did we have plans tonight that I forgot about?" He knew they didn't.  
  
"No" smiled Nicole and sighed. She really liked Luke. She was really trying to be patient with their 'dating'. The marriage thing was on the back burner by mutual consent but lately, in her mind at least, it had been creeping a little more forward. "I just missed you. You haven't been able to stay at the townhouse for a couple of nights. So I thought I'd just come by."  
  
"Great." smiled Luke. Why didn't he feel great? he wondered.  
  
"So, what have you two been up to?" asked Nicole as she and Lorelai sat next to one another at the counter and sipped the coffee Luke poured them.  
  
"A friend of ours with a new baby is feeling a little overwhelmed, so we went to help out for awhile." Lorelai told her, with a concerted effort at pleasantness.  
  
"Oh?" Nicole lifted her brows and turned to look at Luke. She was surprised. "I didn't know you knew anything about babies, Luke."  
  
Luke shifted uncomfortably and tugged on his ear, "I don't. Lorelai does. She did the hard part. I just made them some soup."  
  
"That was sweet. I didn't even know you had a friend with a new baby." Nicole looked up at Luke and that's when it happened: She suddenly felt her stomach drop with the realization that this wonderful man would never completely commit to her. She knew this now as surely as she knew anything. And this made her sad and angry at once. What was wrong with her anyway? I would help a friend with a baby, she thought. Just because Lorelai...  
  
Nicole snapped her head to her left and looked at Lorelai who was sipping her coffee and then quickly back up at Luke. Oh, she thought. Then; damn, damn, damn, damn...  
  
"So, Luke, you had the afternoon off to go help out this friend with Lorelai, is that it?"  
  
Luke picked up his cloth and started wiping the counter. "It wasn't something we planned, Nicole. It just sort of came up that they needed help."  
  
"I see," said Nicole and sipped her coffee. Damn, damn, damn.  
  
"Actually, it was my fault, Nicole..." interjected Lorelai feeling inexplicably guilty.  
  
"Oh?" Nicole turned to her.  
  
"Yeah, I'd had a bad morning and Luke was helping me out and then our friend sent up the SOS... So really, I kind of just dragged him along...." Lorelai looked at Nicole and knew she was making things worse. "Well, the night is young," she continued lamely "why don't you two go upstairs? It's slow down here..." she let the sentence die out.  
  
"Well, I appreciate that, Lorelai," said Nicole, only a slight edge of sarcasm in her voice.  
  
Finally Luke couldn't stand the creeping tension. What was going on here, anyway?  
  
"Come on, Nicole," he said "let's go up stairs."  
  
Nicole sat still for a minute. She was remembering the bad day she'd had last week. It would have been really nice to have Luke with her at the end of the day. To talk to. To be comforted by.  
  
"Nicole?" Luke interrupted her thoughts "You coming?"  
  
He waited for her to join him. She stood and crossed to him. They were about to go upstairs, when Luke turned at the door's jingle.  
  
"Oh, Coop." he said, recognizing the local cop and old friend, "Hey."  
  
"Hey, Luke," Coop strode over to him "Sorry, it's late but I was on the other side of the county when you called this morning" he crossed to the counter and took Nicole's vacated seat, "Lorelai, are you all right?"  
  
Oh, God, thought Luke, I almost forgot.  
  
And before Lorelai could answer, he crossed back to the counter, "Coop, you've got to find this guy and talk to him--"  
  
"I already have, Luke" said Coop, pulling his notebook out.  
  
"But how did you know who he was?" asked Lorelai.  
  
"Lorelai, how many floor refinishers did you hire who would do something like this?" Coop asked her.  
  
"Oh." Lorelai was feeling the turmoil of the morning return.  
  
"I talked to Tom, your contractor, and tracked the guy down–Russell Quarrels, right?"  
  
Lorelai nodded, her stomach churning.  
  
"Yeah, well, Tom's about ready to kill this guy with his bare hands, but I told him he'd have to get in line behind Luke here."  
  
Lorelai's eyes were tingling–she tried to blink the feeling away.  
  
"What did you say to the guy, Coop?" asked Luke, his face set.  
  
"Well, I tracked him down out at his Dad's place–you know, that big farm south of town?--"  
  
Lorelai nodded, "Yeah, Jackson leases land from the family to farm. That's how we found the guy."  
  
"Without going into detail, let's just say that Russell Quarrells has been a thorn in my side for some time. His Dad's a nice old guy and I've been trying to work with them, you know. But, Russell is thirty-five and back living at home. I'd thought he'd stopped drinking but apparently not."  
  
Lorelai nodded, "Yeah he was drunk when he came in my house the other night and then again this morning."  
  
"For what it's worth, I don't think he would have really hurt you , Lorelai."  
  
"You don't know that, Coop. If Lorelai hadn't gotten away..." Luke bristled.  
  
"I know, I know you're right, Luke" Coop agreed. "Anyway, I talked to him and his Dad about the situation: Russell was actually sober and seemed to feel bad about the whole thing. And then his Dad starts yelling at him and telling him how stupid he is–everyone knows that Lorelai is with you Luke, even if he'd asked her out like a normal person. But Russell Quarrells is just not a normal person." Coop finished up.  
  
"But, Luke and I aren't..." Lorelai started to protest.  
  
"Whatever, Lorelai–I know you guys like to keep it under wraps..." Coop held his hand up to indicate that it was none of his business.  
  
"But..."  
  
Luke ignored this, people had always gossiped and come up with silly theories in Stars' Hollow. There was something more important on the table now. "Coop, is he going to leave Lorelai alone?"  
  
"He says he will. I suggest we leave it at that for now. Is that all right with you, Lorelai?"  
  
Lorelai nodded, trying not to cry.  
  
"Good," said Coop, "I gotta get home. Sarah's gonna kill me." he flipped his notebook shut. "Here's my card, Lorelai. You call me direct if anything else happens, Ok?"  
  
Lorelai took the card and Coop left.  
  
After the door jingled shut, she put her elbows on the table and her face into her hands, the tears coming quietly now.  
  
Luke reached across the counter and put his hand on her shoulder, "Shh, Lorelai. It's Ok.."  
  
And it was then that Nicole knew there just wasn't a chance in hell.  
  
She turned and walked up the stairs to Luke's apartment, her kitten heels clicking on the wood the whole way.  
  
Lorelai, lifted her head out of her hands at the sound. "Oh, God, Luke, I am so sorry... About everything. You better go up to her." Lorelai stood and fumbled with her purse and coat.  
  
"Lorelai..." Luke began as he came around to her side of the counter.  
  
"Seriously, Luke, get up there..."  
  
He took hold of her shoulders and looked her in the eye, "Lorelai, there is something we need to talk about..."  
  
She nodded, "I know, Luke, but we can't. You are married. I monopolize your time. You are lending me money. Nicole has every right to be pissed, and I have every right to go home and regret that I have been blind and stupid for years!..." Lorelai was openly crying now.  
  
"Lorelai..." there was misery in Luke's eyes.  
  
"No, Luke." she then reached up, took his face in her hands, and gave him a simple, chaste kiss on his lips. "I've gotta go." she said, and left.  
  
Luke sighed as he watched her leave, then after a pause, straightened his shoulder with resolve and went upstairs.  
  
Lorelai walked home. By the time she rounded her corner, her tears had abated. She was weary to the bone, and cold... She stopped and looked up at her beloved little house.  
  
"No," she whispered to herself as she took note of the dozen eggs smashed on her windows.  
  
Damn.  
  
She went inside, walking past the piles of unfinished curtains: What were broken eggs in the scheme of her day, after all.  
  
She sighed and sat at her desk and pushed the flashing light on her answering machine.  
  
"Lorelai? It's me" she heard Jason's voice. "I guess you're not in and I haven't been able to get through on your cell. Ok: I messed up this morning. I'm afraid I let it slip to your father about us. I told you I'd make a mistake and get caught. The good news is that he was really happy for us. He even hugged me. The bad news is that when he told your mother, she stormed out of here to find you...but you probably know that by now. Right? Anyway, I'm sorry, and.." the answering machine beeped and cut him off.  
  
"Mom?" began the second message. "I couldn't get through on your cell. Did you turn it off? Anyway, I'm not going to be able to come home this weekend. I'm really sorry. But I'm starting to panic about my Poly Sci paper, so... I know you understand. Ok, love you. 'Bye."  
  
Lorelai stared at nothing. She stared at nothing for long moments.  
  
She would get through all of this, she told herself. She always did. And she would again.  
  
Let's see, she'd hire Kirk to clean the eggs up–call him first thing, she mentally told herself.  
  
And after that she'd go over to Sookie's. She'd give Sookie and Jackson the morning off, that's what she'd do. Sookie had enough breast milk stored to feed Davey for a month. She'd send them out for breakfast–it had probably been months since they had been able to do that by themselves. Lorelai admonished herself here for not thinking of that before now. She'd just been so busy with the Inn. Sookie and Jackson could go to Luke's...  
  
Lukes...  
  
And that's when Lorelai 'hit the wall'. And for the millionth time that day, or so it felt, she sobbed aloud. Her body shaking.  
  
And when it finally all subsided, she heard the wall clock strike midnight.  
  
Well, this day is over, at least, she thought.  
  
And so, Lorelai walked slowly up the stairs and into bed, too tired to think maybe ever again. 


End file.
